He rested starting midfielder and faceoff specialist Stephen Peyser more. Pietramala altered his defense, switching long-pole midfielders to close defense and close defensemen to long-pole midfield.
The bottom line was that Blue Jays starters got more rest, and Hopkins has something to build on.
"We can all take a deep breath," said attackman Michael Doneger, who finished with three goals. "We got some confidence back, but we're not going to get overconfident."
The Blue Jays, though, were in a groove. Besides Doneger, Hopkins got a big game from All-America midfielder Paul Rabil, who finished with three goals and an assist. The Blue Jays have been waiting all season for Rabil to have a big game.
Hopkins also got two long-range goals from midfielder Austin Walker, who is known more for his passing ability than his shooting. But most important, the Blue Jays won the game because they won 15 of 18 faceoffs, 12 of those by Peyser.
"Not only did they keep the ball from us, they scored on us," Cottle said. "We tried five different guys at faceoffs. We tried two long poles. We would have tried three. We had no answers."
The end for Maryland came during the third quarter. Peyser opened the scoring in the period by winning the opening faceoff and then scoring from straight on four seconds into the quarter as Hopkins took a 4-2 lead. Doneger took a pass at the top of the crease from Kimmel a little more than a minute later to score for a three-goal Hopkins advantage.
Walker scored with 12:42 left and then with 8:14 remaining. Rabil then scored with 7:31 to give Hopkins an 8-2 lead.
Maryland finally broke the scoring streak when attackman Grant Catalino scored with 4:36 left with Hopkins down two men. The Blue Jays won the first six faceoffs in the third period.
mike.preston@baltsun.com
